Soccer is a failure in the U.S. and there needs to be a change.

The popularity of soccer in the U.S. comes down to these things: our country’s youth involvement, our country’s perception of soccer and the success of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the men’s national team.

The foot-only sport ranks behind football, baseball, basketball and hockey in popularity. Why can’t the most popular sport in the world be that in America?

From a young age, kids in the U.S. are introduced to the sport and many play. As time goes by, they drop off one by one.

Kids are lured away from the sport for many different reasons including how they view it.

The public perception of soccer is not a good one. People see soccer as a feminine sport and often refer to male soccer players as “grass fairies” in an attempt to attack their masculinity.

Soccer is one of the roughest sports in opposition to the “grass fairy” remarks. Matches are filled with shoulder-to-shoulder battles and occasional slide tackles.

Scoreless ties may look like a boring box score, but the game might have been a great match. One example of that comes from the Round 16 in the 2006 World Cup between Portugal and the Netherlands. Portugal won the match 1-0, but the match was filled with tackles and great plays, and even four red cards.

Star power often adds to the sport’s popularity as well. In the 1970s, the North American Soccer League (NASL) did it with Pele, and Major League Soccer is doing it now with Beckham and a number of others. The NASL folded in 1985 and I’m hoping the same will not happen with the MLS.

Pele brought an awareness to the American people and drew crowds wherever he played. Beckham has not done the same for the MLS. The MLS brought him in last season in an attempt to rejuvenate the league, and the plan has not worked out as it hoped.

Women’s soccer has also experienced ups and downs. It peaked in 1999 with the national team winning the World Cup. Because of its growing popularity, women’s soccer started the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) in 2001.

In 2003, the WUSA ceased operations because of a lack in numbers on TV and in the stands.

In spring 2009, the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league will begin with seven teams, including the Chicago Red Stars. The league is loaded with players from the women’s national team and will add three more teams in 2010.

Soccer won’t be popular in the U.S. until the men’s national team brings home a World Cup, and even that might not do it.

Give the greatest sport in the world a chance; take off your blinders. Watch MLS Primetime Thursday on ESPN. Go to a Fire game or even an NIU men’s or women’s game.

If nobody’s watching and nobody’s playing, then what’s the point?